Auction Highlights: Old Master Through Modern Prints — November 2, 2023

Old Master Prints

The November 2, 2023, auction begins with a selection of classic prints by old master artists from Albrecht Dürer to Rembrandt van Rijn and Giovanni B. Piranesi to Francisco José de Goya. Notable among these offerings are two of Dürer’s most coveted engravings, both in spectacular, early impressions: Adam and Eve, 1504, and St. Jerome in his Study, 1514. Among the more than fifty Rembrandt etchings to be offered are several of his most desirable self-portraits from each decade of his prolific career, along with genre and Biblical scenes that include lifetime impressions of The Pancake Woman, 1635, and Abraham Casting Out Hagar and Ishmael, 1637.

19th Century Prints

The standouts among the strong section of nineteenth-century prints are a group of Venetian etchings by James A. M. Whistler, a stunning color drypoint by Mary Cassatt, and additional works by Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, Auguste Rodin and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.

American Prints

In what is one of our most robust selections of American prints in the past several years, we have diverse highlights from artists including Winslow Homer, John Marin, Edward Hopper, Martin Lewis, Thomas Hart Benton, Blanche Lazzell and many others, including the companion lots Night Shadows, 1921, by Hopper and Relics (Speakeasy Corner), 1928, by Lewis, two similar, nocturnal, bird’s-eye view compositions by these artists who were also close friends.  Also of note is a group of lithographs by Benton created for the motion picture version of The Grapes of Wrath, 1939, and with a direct provenance to the film’s director, John Ford.

Latin American Prints

Sandwiched between the American and modern European prints is a solid group of Latin American prints that spans the twentieth century, from José Guadalupe Posada and José Clemente Orozco to David A. Siquieros and Rufino Tamayo.

Modern European Prints

The ultimate section of the sale consists of more than 150 modern European prints, ranging from Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse to Joan Miró and Alberto Giacometti.  Highlights include Picasso’s Fumeur, 1964, early color lithographs by Chagall inspired by Four Tales of the Arabian Nights, and a selection of modernist prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Egon Schiele and Oscar Kokoschka among others.  Of special note is a private collection of prints by M. C. Escher, including examples of his early Italian lithographs alongside his later tessellation-inspired works.

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